Igor Shesterkin a shining star as Rangers beat Dallas for eighth straight win
Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers makes a glove save late during the second period against the Stars at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Two days after their thrilling overtime win over the rival Islanders in the Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium, the Rangers were back at Madison Square Garden against the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars.
And Igor Shesterkin looked like he was back to his 2022 self when he won the Vezina Trophy. He made 41 saves, many of them remarkable, to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 victory on Tuesday night that extended their winning streak to eight games.
The Blueshirts increased their lead in the Metropolitan Division to six points over second-place Carolina.
“He was on his game,’’ defenseman Adam Fox said of Shesterkin. “They’re a good team, they score a lot of goals, and he made some big saves when he needed to. Obviously, to win a tight game, you’re going to need those big saves. And he came through for us.’’
Goals by Fox, in the first period, Kaapo Kakko in the second, and Vincent Trocheck into an empty net with 1:41 remaining, provided the necessary offense.
But really it was Shesterkin who did most of the heavy lifting for the Rangers, who improved to 37-16-3 and evened the season series with the Stars, who had beaten them, 6-3, in Dallas on Nov. 20.
The Stars (34-15-8) outshot the Rangers 17-6 in the third period, but the 28-year-old Russian stopped everything he saw, including a huge, sprawling stop on Tyler Seguin’s rebound attempt from inside the goal crease with 4:13 remaining.
“I have to buy him a good dinner right now,’’ Shesterkin joked when asked about Seguin’s attempt. “I just tried to play till the end. If he went high, it would have been a goal, but I was lucky tonight.’’
It has been a struggle at times this season for Shesterkin, but his game seems to be coming around now. He’s won four in a row, and other than allowing five goals in Sunday’s win, he’s been sharp. The game before Sunday was a 2-0 shutout over Calgary.
“He’s putting together some games now that are really giving us an advantage to win hockey games,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said of Shesterkin, who is 23-12-1. “Tonight, he gave us an edge in the third period when we needed it. I thought he was at his absolute best.’’
The shot totals for the first period (9-6 for Dallas) appeared to be a little misleading because it was the Rangers who looked as if they had the better of play in the opening 20 minutes, generating chances against a Stars team that had played Monday and lost in a shootout to Boston.
Fox opened the scoring at 7:46 when he cleaned up the mess after a wild scramble in front of the Dallas net and scored off a pass from Artemi Panarin with Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood (23 saves) on his back. The goal was Fox’s ninth of the season.
“I thought it would have been easy for us, after that emotional win [Sunday] to maybe have a little letdown in emotion or energy here, but I thought we were on it from the start,’’ Fox said. “I think the last two games our first periods weren’t great. I think, obviously, getting a goal helped . . . to start with a lead, and again, it was just a good defensive effort.’’
Kakko doubled the Rangers’ lead with a four-on-four goal at 8:23 of the second, flipping a shot from the left wing over Wedgewood’s right shoulder for his seventh goal of the season and second in the last three games. The goal also extended his point-scoring streak to five games.
The 2-0 lead didn’t last long, though. The four-on-four ended when Jamie Benn exited the penalty box after finishing his tripping penalty, and the Stars would score on an ensuing power play, with defenseman Miro Heiskanen scoring on a rebound in front at 9:10.
But that was the only goal Shesterkin let the Stars have on this night.
Notes & quotes: Matt Rempe got only 5:08 of ice time but led the Rangers with five hits. Adam Edstrom had four hits in just 7:47 . . . Barclay Goodrow won 9 of 13 faceoffs . . . K'Andre Miller had an assist and a team-high five blocked shots . . . Vincent Trocheck had the most ice time for the Rangers with 24:25, mostly because he takes a lot of the crucial faceoffs. But he won just 8 of 21 on Tuesday . . . The Rangers are tied with Florida and Vancouver for most wins in the league with 37.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
